Welcome.

This site features some of my favorite short and long form music tracks from my archives.

Special thanks to the talented musicians, singers, writers, performers, production and creative collaborators who helped to make this work come alive, especially Tony Kosinec, my brilliant, long time creative and business partner who shares credit in many of these recordings.

For video click on the graphic. For audio click ‘Play’. For back-stories, lyrics & credits, click ‘Notes’. Click the graphic for a full screen display of the Notes.

Thanks for stopping by.

– Asher

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Favorite Radio Production

Market Square

↓ Notes

I love everything about this spot, it’s old school to the max. Recorded with the Boss Brass and TSO strings, a great vocal by Jeri Craden.

The job was simply to convey the excitement and energy of living in Toronto’s theater district. It was a smash success for the agency and development. Lawrence Ayliffe commissioned it, lyrics co-written with David Mills, Dave Balan engineered. Continue reading

Favorite Happy Endings

Soundmarks & Logos

↓ Notes

Call it a sound logo, soundmark, outchorus, whatever…how a commercial ends is often the thing that listeners recall. And nothing makes an advertiser happier.

These Happy Endings were selected from work created at Thinkmusic with the amazing Tony Kosinec as well as from productions I’ve created since 2009. Continue reading

Favorite Iconic Ad

East Side Mario's

↓ Notes

By Asher Ettinger, Tony Kosinec and Paul Breithaupt.
Vocal & announce by Tony Kosinec.
Created in 1995.
Still going strong in 2012.
Hey, Badda Boom
Badda Bing! Continue reading

Favorite Radio Spot Lyric

Talking Book World

↓ Notes

The best ideas come from the product itself. See lyric below.

This is a superb radio spot, expertly performed by Neil Donnel, with music & lyrics by Asher Ettinger and Tony Kosinec. Produced by Thinkmusic. Continue reading

Favorite Sex Store Spot

Stag Shop

↓ Notes

This was too much fun to write. Here’s the lyric.

Lube-a-doo-ba-doo
Good vibration
Add a little spice Continue reading

Favorite Comedy Music Spot

Yak Communications

↓ Notes

It’s not everyday you get to use the word ‘bamboozle’ in a tune. Here’s how to insert a tickle or two into an otherwise hard sell message where the mnemonic device is the brand’s name.

Music & lyrics by Asher Ettinger, Tony Kosinec & Sonny Stone. Vocal by Tony Kosinec. Produced by Thinkmusic.

I Yak all day, I hardly pay
These guys are just so nice, you see
I yak and yak no stopping me Continue reading

Favorite Campaign

Home & Rural Appliances

↓ Notes

This is the original version of a pool that spawned 12 musical variations.

What do you do when asked to write a jingle for a brand name that is hard to pronounce and harder to sing? You turn that liability into an asset by poking a little fun at oneself. Continue reading

Favorite Beer Spot

Mill Street Brewery

↓ Notes

Mill St was a new microbrewery on the scene that managed to create a heritage and a legend for their brand with the help of a great graphic logo and this 1930s inspired track.

Downtown on Mill St
Where the music’s sweet Continue reading

Favorite Restaurant Spot

Pizza Nova

↓ Notes

I always loved Dean Martin’s hit song ” That’s Amore”. It was a treat to produce a parody version of this classic.

Dino Grande provided a perfect vocal at a most memorable recording session.

Produced by Thinkmusic with Tony Kosinec. . Continue reading

Favorite Soft Drink Spot

Sprite

↓ Notes

This great little jingle was originally composed by an American production house, with four new Canadian versions created by Thinkmusic for radio and one for TV. This one is my favorite of the pool.

This recording session was a ton of fun. Continue reading

Favorite Opening Film Theme

Joan of Arc

↓ Notes

Simply titled ‘Joan’s Theme’, it set the tone for the entire rest of the 130 minute symphonic score. Once composed, we decided to have a young soprano sing the principal melody line. After many auditions failed to find the sound we were seeking, we contacted the extraordinary Charlotte Church who agreed to lend her angelic voice and extraordinary skill to our score. She sang this from a studio in Wales as she was directed from a studio here in Toronto. Singing this melody is an impressive feat at any age, especially at the tender age of 14.

For more on the back story of the music scoring for this movie, please read my summary diary of the project (originally published by Playback Magazine) on the www.ashermusic.ca website. Continue reading

Favorite Three Minute Song

Up Late Talking

↓ Notes

Performed in 2009 by the amazing Elise LeGrow.
Recorded at Thinkmusic, Tony Kosinec – engineer

Composed by my friend, the late Diane Heatherington, this is a modern day classic that Elise LeGrow made all her own with a bass vamp that never gets tired. Continue reading

Favorite Dramatic Film Cue

Joan of Arc

↓ Notes

This is the final, climactic scene of this mini series where Joan Of Arc is burned at the stake.

In his music briefing at the production’s outset, the producer requested that leitmotifs* be created and employed throughout the film and that these leitmotifs be incorporated and superimposed with each other in the final scene. Composing this way is a bit like playing chess on multiple levels simultaneously. For those taking in the entire film, experiencing these themes in superimposition during this finale makes for a very powerful and satisfying conclusion to this extraordinary story. Continue reading

Favorite Acid Opera Track

Habanera

↓ Notes

In 2002, I conceived and created Acid Opera, a CD of electronic based re-conceptualizatons and interpretations of arias and Art Songs.

Acid Opera ranks among the very finest work produced by Thinkmusic.
Continue reading

Favorite TV Theme

Ready or Not

↓ Notes

Everything about scoring this 65 episode series was a joy, particularly working with the show’s creator, Alyse Rosenberg.

Theme song words and music by Tony Kosinec and Asher Ettinger. Produced by Thinkmusic.

Series produced by Insight Productions, originally aired on Global and Disney Channel. Continue reading

Favorite Art/Pop Song

More Love

↓ Notes

Inspired by a New Year’s greeting message I was sending to a friend, this song was created in a single quick sitting, then set aside for a year before completing the arrangement and production.

Favorite Documentary Score

Lives That Changed The World

↓ Notes

This assignment not only provided an opportunity to explore South African music and vocal genres, it raised my already high esteem for Nelson Mandela to the highest possible level. An extraordinary man who has shown the world what inspiring leadership can achieve. Continue reading

Favorite Shopping Mall Spot

Ottawa Train Yards

↓ Notes

Tony Kosinec sparkles on this spot.

We developed the concept together; he then left the room and returned a few minutes later with this gem.

He did the vocal too.
Continue reading

Favorite Spot That Never Aired

Bad Boy

↓ Notes

This was presented as part of a new business pitch, trying to put a new spin on the company’s established soundmark.
The Mayor referred to is Mel Lastman, former Mayor of Toronto.
Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
Lyrics & music by Asher Ettinger & Sonny Stone. Vocal by Elise LeGrow. Continue reading